Dark Lord Rising
by Rayne Falcon-Punches Hanson
Summary: Sonic and co. and a girl named Snow are forced together when a dark power begins its ascension into the world. The Tower of Shadow is rising, and only the strength of all of them combined can stop the ancient power held within. ...Or can it?
1. Chance Meeting

**A/N: Yeah, I wrote a new story. The series itself is called Dark Desires. You'll see what it's about when I get more published.**

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Prologue: Chance Meeting

Sonic was, as usual, running, but this time it was not for enjoyment. He'd witnessed a large explosion on the other end of the large plain he was running through, and was going to see if everything was alright. Due to the size of it, he was wondering what could have caused it and how much damage it had done.

When he reached the site, though, all he saw were large scorch marks and a girl. She was muttering to herself about something, going around, picking up small plants from the ground. Her dress was covered in scorch marks as well, and particles of black dust stuck in her long hair.

"Hey, are you alright?"Sonic called.

Her head snapped up. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't noticed him approaching. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine, if you can believe that."She said, giving a small smile.

"That was a pretty big explosion. If you don't mind me asking, what the heck were you doing?"

She grimaced. "I'd rather not say." At his quirked eyebrow, she added, "You wouldn't believe me anyway."

Thinking of everything he'd been through, Sonic just chuckled. "I've had a mad scientist trying to murder me for years, a two-tailed fox for a best friend, a djinn and a court magician as my companions, and I'm a blue hedgehog that can run at the speed of sound..."He trailed off. "Try me."

"Oh, all right. I was trying out a new bit of magic. I haven't used it before, so it kind of backfired. It was supposed to create a small bomb that I could set off whenever I wanted to..."

Sonic laughed. "I can see how that wouldn't work right the first time. But how did you not get hurt?"

"Shield."

He nodded, and both were silent for a moment, before the girl spoke up again.

"What's your name?"She asked.

"Sonic. Yours?"

"Snow."

They shook hands, smiling. Snow let go first and went back to picking things up. Sonic realized after a second that she wasn't muttering to herself, she was singing. It was in some ancient language he didn't know, but he recognized the song. He'd heard it before, but he couldn't recall where.

Snow stood up, still singing quietly, and dumped the items she had picked up into a basket. She smiled at Sonic and waved as she walked away.

"Nice meeting you, Sonic! I'll see you around."

Sonic waved back. "See ya!"


	2. The Jewel

**A/N: Next chapter, boo-yah!**

**OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. I only claim the Original Characters that appear within this story and the plot.**

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Chapter 1: The Jewel

_Six months later..._

Snow sat up in bed, breathing hard and drenched in sweat. She ran a hand through her long white hair, wiping away some of the sweat on her forehead. Tired blue eyes cast a look toward the cavern entrance, and an annoyed sigh released itself when she realized the sun had yet to come up.

With no clock in the cavern, she had no way of knowing exactly what time it was until the sun or moon came up. Twilight and the early hours of morning could easily get mixed up there.

Despite this, she stood from her cot on the ground and moved toward the large lake in the centre of her home. As usual, her reflection stared back at her for a moment before distorting into the appearance of something very different.

Breaking her usual routine, Snow simply watched instead of doing whatever she could to make the image disappear. Eventually it became her again, and she smiled. So it _did_ go away after a while.

The Sun was just starting to come up, and she stood to step away from the lake. Then she felt it—a brief but powerful pulse of energy. She was driven to her knees by the sheer force of it, but as quickly as it had arrived, it vanished. It had been massive, more powerful than Dark Gaia had been when he had risen.

And then a familiar presence appeared. She felt relieved at its arrival, and at the same time, she felt afraid for it.

Sonic rounded the corner and walked into the cavern. He noticed Snow on the ground and rushed to her side. He helped her up, a worried look creasing his usually carefree face.

"Snow, are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes... I just... felt something. It was horrible..."She replied. She smiled and slowly pushed away from him. "It's good to see you, Sonic. What brings you to the Lake of Truths?"

"Tails' machines picked up on a pretty powerful energy source near here. I thought I'd warn you that he was coming, in case you wanted not to meet him." Sonic replied.

"Of course I'd want to meet your little brother. I already know a lot about him due to certain abilities of mine, and what you've told me. Lead him here if you must, but I want to meet him today."

Sonic chuckled. "That sounded a lot like an order, but I'll do it anyway, just because I feel like it."

He blurred out of the cavern, off to find his 'brother' for Snow. He'd neglected to tell Tails about Snow, since he figured Snow would want to stay as much out of his life as possible. He could just hitch a ride with Tails and explain on the way, though.

He spotted the Tornado and flagged it down. Tails maneuvered it closer to the ground so Sonic could hop on. Sonic held on and spoke as loudly as he could to the fox.

"Hey, Tails, there's someone I want you to meet." He said. When he saw that Tails was going to object, he went on, "It's not too far from where we're headed anyway, so I figured we could stop by their place first."

Tails nodded. "Alright, but where exactly are they?"

Sonic pointed to a mountain a few hundred yards away. "A cavern at the top of that mountain. There should be plenty of room for you to land the Tornado outside the entrance."

They made their way there quickly, due to the adjustments Tails had recently made. True to Sonic's word, there was a space just large enough for Tails to land the Tornado and go inside.

For a fox who is very hard to surprise after all he'd seen, he was surprised by the girl he saw. Her hair, skin, and clothes were all white—except for her shoes, which were black—and her eyes were an intelligent electric blue. They were the eyes of someone who had lived for a long time and seen far too much.

He knew he'd seen her before, but at the same time, he knew he hadn't. It was confusing, but he tried to ignore it. Until she spoke, that is. Her voice was so familiar, but so unknown at the same time.

"Hello, Tails."

"Uh... Hi."

Realization crossed her face. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to do that... I'm Snow."

"It's fine. Snow, huh?" He asked, smiling, "It fits."

She smiled back before casting a look into the lake next to her and shuddering. He was about to go look in for himself, just to see what she was shuddering about, but didn't get the chance.

"That's not a very good idea, Tails. This lake is... Dangerous." Snow said.

He took her word for it and didn't look. But he looked over at Sonic, who was standing off to the side, staring into the water as well, a very put-out expression on his face. Snow noticed too.

"What do you see, Sonic?" She asked.

He didn't answer, and simply turned away. Worry creased Snow's face, but she didn't question him. After all this time, she had managed to not constantly hear his thoughts, but she was regretting trying not to. It would be better if she knew what he'd seen, but since she didn't know, she was going to let it alone.

Tails was worried too, since whatever Sonic had seen had obviously put him in a pretty bad mood. He tried to ignore it, but he couldn't. His big brother was upset, and after years of knowing him, he noticed it easily.

He shifted from foot to foot awkwardly before saying, "Well, I'd better get looking for that source I picked up... If I don't, someone else might find it."

Sonic nodded and said, "Alright. I'll be here when you're done."

"See you around, Tails." Snow said, smiling unsurely.

He waved and walked out. "See you."

He got back into the Tornado and took off. His tracker was going crazy, so he kept going in the same direction he had been, searching the ground for anything that could've caused such a large fluctuation in the normal readings.

And then he saw it, a jewel just a bit larger than the Master Emerald. It was black and glowing brightly. The power it secreted was so strong that Tails actually felt it. It was floating in place, spinning slowly.

He landed the Tornado nearby and walked toward the jewel. The sheer force of its influence nearly brought him to his knees the closer he got, but he managed to stay upright. He examined the jewel from about a foot away for a moment before the feeling of being pushed down disappeared.

The aptitude of the jewel was still tangible to him, but it wasn't so forceful that he felt crushed. He got closer and reached out toward the jewel, curiosity getting the better of him.

The light within pulsed briefly before the entire jewel flashed. He looked away, for fear of being blinded. The jewel shrunk and floated over to him, settling in his hand, completely of its own accord.

He looked cautiously, and was shocked to see how small it had become. Just barely smaller than a Chaos Emerald, but still obviously more powerful. He felt the urge to take it back to his Workshop immediately and not show anyone, and he knew it would be wrong of him to do it, but he also knew that if anyone else saw it, especially Snow, he'd have it taken away.

"No, that's just greed talking... Get your act together, Tails!" He snapped at himself.

_But I can't just let someone have it. Something tells me I'm supposed to keep it. Protect it, even... Geez, I sound like Knuckles!_

After a few moments of debate, he decided to do exactly like he'd wanted to in the first place and took the jewel to his Workshop for safekeeping. He'd avoided flying past Snow's mountain, just in case she might have sensed the power or seen him.

He stowed the jewel in his room, underneath his pillow. It pulsed, and he thought it seemed... content. He brushed it off and made his way back to Snow's mountain, landing the Tornado outside again. He felt apprehensive for a second, knowing he'd have to lie to Sonic and Snow both, but he shook himself and walked in anyway.

"Yo." Sonic's voice was the first he heard. He was apparently back in a good mood. "What'd you find?"

Tails grimaced internally. "Nothing. I got to where the power source was coming from, and when I was right on top of it, it just disappeared."

He made sure he looked confused and put-out when he said it. Snow tried to see if he was lying, but he suddenly had a very strong mental shield blocking her out. She recognized the power, but didn't remember where she'd felt it before. Her suspicions didn't go unnoticed by Tails however.

"Something wrong, Snow?" He asked innocently.

With that question her suspicions disappeared. He obviously didn't know what her problem was. So she left him alone and let it go. But it bothered her. No one could create such a strong mental barrier so quickly, not without something extremely powerful.

"No. I was just thinking." She said.

"Okay. Well, try not to stare at me. It kind of creeps me out when people stare at me."

Snow nodded and looked back into the lake.

Tails was surprised he could get her to leave him alone so easily, considering the fact that she had obviously been reading his mind earlier. He paid it no mind, however, and asked Sonic if he was ready to leave yet.

"Nah. I think I'll stay and hang out with Snow for a bit longer. She doesn't get many visitors, and I've gotten used to being here when I'm not saving the world." Sonic replied.

"Okay. See you whenever you decide to come back. Bye, Snow."

Tails left, taking the Tornado back to his workshop again, and running inside before anyone who was nearby could say anything. For some reason, he was extremely worried about that jewel. When he found it still under his pillow, he was extremely relieved. He picked it up and took it into his main room.

He sat it down on one of his computers. He began typing on another, larger computer, hacking into the main intelligence mainframe of Mobius, trying to find information on the gem.

When he found it, he wished he hadn't.

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**A/N: Why won't anyone read this? *sniff* :'(**


	3. Forced Together

**A/N: Yeah, here's the newest chapter. Be happy, the few of you that read it.**

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Chapter 2: Forced Together

Only a day later, Sonic came back down from Snow's Mountain, and everyone asked him where he'd disappeared to, but he just smiled and said they'd know soon enough, and he wasn't going to spoil the surprise. Eventually, they gave up.

The blue blur made his way to Tails' workshop and knocked on the door. He heard some noises and muffled words before the door opened slightly and Tails peaked out.

"Uhm, Sonic, I'm kinda busy..."He said.

"With what? A new invention or something?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah... It's kinda dangerous right now, so I'd prefer it if you could take off for a while, and get everyone away for now, until I can get it stabilized." Tails responded, looking slightly worried.

"Oh, okay. I'll make sure everybody's safe. Tell me when you've got it stable, kay?" Sonic asked, "I wanna hang out for a little while later."

"Okay."

Sonic noticed a dangerous looking greyish glow coming from behind Tails. "Uh... Is that supposed to be happening?" He asked.

Tails turned around. "No!" He spun back around, "Crap, I gotta get back to work, see ya!"

The door was slammed in Sonic's face, slightly annoying him but slightly amusing him as well. He went around warning people away and explaining that Tails was working on something he thought might be dangerous to anyone who didn't want to follow his advice and leave.

As soon as almost everybody was gone, he took off himself, hoping Tails would be done soon.

_With Tails_

Sonic was gone, much to his relief and he turned to look at his rather large Jet which sat in the middle of the room.

"You're more trouble than you're worth, you know that?" He asked.

It pulsed. He groaned in annoyance. It kept answering him and throwing him off. It was just a jewel, so why did it keep giving him answers? Well, then again, it wasn't _just_ a jewel. He knew that.

"Why do you always do that? And how do I know what you mean?" He asked exasperatedly.

"_Because you are my guardian, I am obliged to answer you, and you are obliged to understand my words unlike anyone else._" It answered.

"Since when am I your guardian?" Tails asked, now confused.

"_You have been my guardian since the beginning of time. Over eternity you and your ancestors have been entrusted with guarding me and my kin._"

"Kin?"

"_That, you will find out in due time. I need not explain it to you._"

Although confused, Tails didn't question it. He simply set about trying to make something that could've been giving off that strange grey glow and have to be stabilized.

After a few minutes, he had it imagined and made. He stabilized it completely within the next few.

It was a robot with a large memory disk that constantly glowed the same grey as his Jet. He decided that it was going to have to be good enough.

He picked up a small bag he usually carried tools in and strapped it on, stuffing the Jet inside and going off to find Sonic. The robot was just in case Sonic came snooping around to see what he'd been building.

He was flying along when he felt a shockwave of power course through the air. His namesakes stopped twirling for the briefest second, but it was enough. He started to plummet toward the ground, but the next thing he knew, a weightlessness took over him.

"_I have you, Tails. Do not worry. Besides, as my guardian, you need to learn how to use my power. I will not always be sentient enough to help you by myself._"

"Thanks, I will."

He knew he didn't need to now, but he twirled his tails anyway to keep up appearances. He saw Scourge on the ground, flagging him down.

"Hey, can you let me go? I'm still new to the floating thing, and I definitely don't know how to land yet. I'll practice later, when no one's around."

"_Of course._"

He felt the weightless feeling disappear and he flew down to the ground. He landed a few feet away from Scourge, apprehensive.

"What do _you_ want, Scourge?" He asked.

"Hey, relax. I just wanted to ask you where Blue is. I need to ask him something." Scourge replied.

"No idea. I was just looking for him." Tails said.

"Damn..."

Tails chuckled before taking off again.

"Hey, where're you going?" Scourge yelled up.

"To find Sonic. Didn't I just tell you that's what I was doing?" Tails asked.

He flew off before Scourge could say anything else. It only took him a couple more moments to find Sonic. He was standing next to a tree, staring off into the distance.

Tails landed, not making a sound. He intended to sneak up on his brother. With a grin, he got right behind him before whispering in his ear.

"I'm watching you, blue."

Sonic jumped and spun around, sending Tails into a fit of laughter. Sonic just gave him an indignant look.

"You should really... Pay more attention! You're the hero of Mobius for Pete's sake!"

"Tails, that was _so_ not funny!" He exclaimed.

"No, it wasn't." Said Tails, straightening and putting on a serious face, "It was hilarious!"

He began laughing again. This time Sonic joined in, realizing that Tails had a point. Being the world's hero, he should definitely pay more attention, and the fact that he didn't _was_ funny, to a degree. It wasn't _hilarious_, per say, but it was slightly amusing.

The laughter died down and Tails grinned at Sonic. "So, what did you want to talk to me about? I rushed a bit to get that thing stabilized to find out." Tails said.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you about what I saw in that lake yesterday. It involved you, so I think you should know." Sonic replied.

"Okay."

So Sonic told Tails what he had seen, and Tails just stared at him.

"I was doing _what_?! Dude! I'm _so_ not seeing that happening! There isn't enough money in the world to get me to do that!"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking, but Snow told me that whatever you see in that lake comes true eventually, unless you take extra precautionary measures against it. So you'd better lock yourself in your workshop or something, 'cuz I really don't want it happening!"

Tails laughed. "Sonic, I lock myself in my workshop anyway! Now I just have another excuse!"

Soon both of them were laughing again, though they weren't sure why. Tails' comment wasn't particularly funny, but for some reason, both of them felt the need to get a good laugh out of it. Almost like it would be their last. It confused them greatly, but they followed the instinct anyway, laughing for well over two minutes before they calmed down and left to go their separate ways. Well, Sonic did at least.

As soon as Tails was sure he was gone and no one else was around, he took the Jet from his satchel and sat it down. Immediately, it grew to its true size. It hadn't done that before, but he figured it simply wasn't comfortable around all his technology. It was a very ancient jewel after all.

"_So, do you wish to practice tapping into my power now?_" It asked.

"Yeah."

After the Jet explained how to do that, he used it to attempt the earlier stunt it had helped with. He achieved it, to a degree. He got a couple of feet off the ground before he lost control of it and slammed down onto the ground.

"Ow..." He groaned, "Will I ever be able to control your powers fully?"

"_With practice, Tails, with practice._"

He nodded, stood up, and tried again. And again. And again, over and over.

Hours later, Tails had floating down to an art, and he could do it without thinking about it. Despite this new ability, he used his usual means of flying to go home. He placed the Jet on his nightstand after locking all of his doors.

He fell asleep to the gentle grey pulsing it gave off. He thought of it almost as a heartbeat.

* * *

He was awoken by the sound of someone pounding on his door and yelling his name. He snatched the Jet off his bedside table and placed it in his work bag once more. He bolted to the door and unlocked it to peer outside at the visitor.

Sonic stood there looking panic stricken. "Tails, you have to come, quick! Something happened, and Snow's on Angel Island in bad shape!"

That really got Tails moving. He had the Tornado running and in the air almost before Sonic could hop on. He landed just outside the ruins of the shrine and the feeling of being home swept through him. He didn't understand it, and so he kept going.

"Where exactly is she?" Tails asked.

"Up on the Master Emerald shrine. Knuckles is taking as good care of her as he knows how."

Tails nodded and flew up the stairs. He was happy that he kept medical supplies in his work bag. When he landed he realized that Sonic had not been lying about Snow being in bad shape. She had multiple cuts and bruises on her face, and her arms were covered in gashes.

He also noticed that it wasn't just Knuckles, Snow, Sonic, and himself there. Scourge, Fiona, Amy—and basically everyone else they knew from Mobius and Moebious except for most of their enemies—were there.

Knuckles moved when he saw Tails, not saying anything. Tails himself kneeled down next to Snow, his expression serious.

Fiona and Scourge were surprised at his change in attitude since they'd last seen him. Gone, it seemed, was the playful 11 year old with a crush on Fiona. He was now a serious, intelligent, 12 year old.

He examined Snow's wounds more closely, unaware of their musings about him. He was completely focused on Snow. Whatever had attacked her had known what it was doing. It seemed to have made a point to only wound her in places that wouldn't kill her.

"Snow, what happened?" He asked.

"An... old enemy of mine... he found out where I was... and then..." She trailed off.

_Hmm... Shortness of breath. This guy really did a number on her._

He simply nodded with a hum.

Careful not to let anyone see the jewel concealed within, he opened the bag on his hip and pulled out the nessicary equipment. He bandaged her wounds and cleaned the worst of the cuts with some of his very precious Peroxide. There wasn't much left outside of Robotnik's fortresses.

He slowly, carefully, wrapped the larger wounds in his best bandages. He couldn't have her getting worse off, not since she obviously wanted to tell them something. There didn't seem to be much else she wanted to do, he could tell. He wasn't sure how, but he knew she needed to say something.

When he finished, she slowly sat up, backing up against a nearby pillar, her face scrunched up in pain.

"Thanks, Tails." She said, "But I need to tell you all something, something I'm sure Silver has noticed as well. There has been a shift in the balance of power lately. There is something upsetting it, though I'm not sure what. Whatever it is, it is _extremely_ powerful, and should be kept away from. Unfortunately, as I have absolutely no idea what it looks like, I can't properly warn you away."

Everyone nodded.

"Also, be prepared for one of your numbers to leave you. They will betray you when you least expect it, though not for the reasons you will think of." She cautioned.

Once again, they nodded. But some sent suspicious glances to certain people. Tails simply prepared himself to leave again. He loved helping people out, but he really loved getting the proper amount of sleep more.

Right as he started to head for the tornado, a large crack of lightening hit it. A loud cackling surrounded them all, and the shadowy figure of a man appeared mere inches away from Tails' face.

"Ye fool! Dost thou think ye can simply walk away? Thou art part of this as well. T'would not be chivalrous of ye to leave." He said.

"Well, buddy, I've got news for you, chivalry isn't my forte anyway, so I'm gonna leave, whether you want me to or not." Tails retorted, starting to walk around him.

"Thou shall not pass!" The man yelled, and a barrier of darkness formed in front of Tails.

Tails just sighed and stepped back.

Everyone else stared at him and the man.

"Who are you and what the frick do you want?" Tails asked, slight annoyance ringing in his voice.

"My name is of no importance to ye, but what I want is simple. Give me the Master Jet. Thou shall have no more trouble from me when I have its power."

A murmur went through those present. Knuckles was the first to speak up.

"Master Jet? What is that?" He asked.

"Something similar to your Master Emerald, Echidna, simply stronger." The man answered offhandedly, "Thy small fox friend is the last to have seen it."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "Woah there buddy, I haven't seen any jewels lately except the Master Emerald. I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Ye lie, fox!"

_Crapbaskets..._ "No. I'm not lying. I'm serious." Tails stated stubbornly.

The others looked on in silence, wondering what the man was talking about and why Tails was suddenly being so stubborn. It was an even bigger change than he had made when he turned 12. Most of them were hoping that this one wouldn't be permanent as well.

"Fox, just give me the jewel, and ye and thy friends may leave." The man was beginning to get irritated, it was plain to see.

Tails let out an overly exasperated sigh. "I don't know what you're talking about! Just let me off this freaking island already! I'd like to be able to sleep before the sun comes up!"

"Ye still refuse to give me what I want? Very well. Thou shalt stay upon this island until you are ready to hand over the Master Jet."

Tails groaned as the barrier completely solidified and the man disappeared. A few of the others let out similar groans. One of which was Knuckles.

"Ugh... Why did he have to trap you all here? Now I'm gonna have to work twice as hard to protect this damn Emerald." He muttered.

"As long as I'm here, I'll help. I can keep an eye on it no matter where I am." Silver volunteered.

Knuckles gave him a rather sceptical look before shrugging. "Okay, if you want to help, go ahead. But somebody make sure that bat doesn't get anywhere near my Emerald. I'll be too busy keeping everyone else away from it."

Tails looked up. "I'll keep an eye on her." He said tiredly.

"Thanks, Tails."

"No charge."

Tails flew up to the top of one of the pillars and seated himself boredly. For a few moments, he kept a careful watch on Rouge, but she seemed deep in a conversation with Amy, so he gave up long enough to inquire the Jet about something.

"So, who was that?" He asked quietly.

"_That was Mrothtar, the Overlord of the Tower of Shadow. He is very dangerous. He is the Guardian of my kin as of now, but he stole the right from your ancestors._"

He nodded slightly. His eyes glued themselves to Rouge again. She was now eying the Emerald. She looked up though, having heard his offer to watch her. She looked very put out that he still was, but that didn't stop her from starting towards it.

Tails sighed, rolling his eyes before he hopped down, grabbed one of her arms and yanking her back.

"Not happenin', Bat Girl." He said flatly, giving her a blank stare.

She glared back at him. "Oh come on! Since when can _you_ hold me back?" She asked.

She leaned toward him, kissing him on the cheek in an attempt to get free, but that only annoyed him. He tightened his grip while at the same time pushing her away.

"Not happenin'." He repeated.

Rouge huffed, yanking her arm out of his grasp and stalking away. Tails just rolled his eyes. Scourge applauded him shortly, much to everyone's surprise.

"Way to handle a thief, kid." He said.

Tails raised an eyebrow suspiciously at him before saying, "Thanks...I guess."

_This is going to be interesting, to say the least... Stuck on Angel Island with almost everyone I know__—__over half of which want to kill me. I'd better be on my toes..._

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**A/N: Why won't anyone read this? *sniff* :'(**


	4. Trapped

**A/N: Yeah, here's the newest chapter. Be happy, the few of you that read it.**

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Chapter 3: Trapped

"So, I've been wondering..." Tails murmured to the jewel, "What exactly is the extent of your power?"  
"_The extent of my power? I'm not sure, as I've never experimented._"  
Everyone else was asleep, including Rouge, who he was still keeping an eye on after eight days of being stuck on Angel Island. She, despite the fact that he stopped her every time, was still trying to get to the Master Emerald.  
Sitting atop the pillar he'd taken to perching on to keep watch, Tails was once again—though by then he'd memorized the view—surveying the scenery.  
"Never experimented? Well, no offence, but that's not much help..."  
Confusion. "Not much help? Why did you want to know?"  
"I was wondering if maybe you'd be able to take down that barrier." Tails said.  
"_Oh, I can do that. But you didn't ask before, so I didn't bother._"  
Tails resisted the urge to let his eye twitch. The jewel had a point, he hadn't asked before.  
"_Want me to go ahead and do it?_"  
"Yeah."  
The jewel gave a bright pulse and the barrier flickered momentarily, but immediately solidified again. Both Tails and the jewel groaned.  
"Okay, looks like we're not getting out just yet..." Tails sighed quietly.  
He heard someone stir down below, so he looked to see who it was, ready to stop them if it was Rogue. To his surprise, however, it was Knuckles who was approaching the Master Emerald. Knuckles looked up, knowing Tails would still be awake just in case Rogue tried something. He motioned the fox down.  
Tails canted his head to the side but flew down anyway, having already stored the Master Jet away at the first sign of someone waking up.  
"What is it?" He asked quietly.  
"I've been sensing distress from the Master Emerald, ever since that creep put this shield up around us." He sighed before continuing, "And I know you're probably not the best person to ask, but do you think you could check it out?"  
Tails nodded, "I could try, but I can't guarantee you anything."  
Knuckles looked satisfied with the answer, so he went ahead and put his hand on the Emerald. Immediately, it flared brightly, causing both of them to look away quickly to avoid being blinded. Tails hesitantly glanced back at it, wincing at the brightness before his eyes adjusted.  
There were physical tendrils of power running up his arm, down his torso, and to his workbag. Both he and Knuckles stared at it.  
"It seems to be trying to reach something in your workbag... But what?"  
"Tails, he wishes to speak to me. Please, get me out."  
Tails looked Knuckles in the eye, "You can't tell anyone about this, alright? I already have one person after it, so more would just make our situation worse..."  
"Okay...?"  
He reached into his workbag and pulled out the Master Jet, letting it go as soon as it was out, which caused it to resume its true size. Knuckles stared at it.  
"Is that... The Master Jet?" He finally asked.  
"Yeah. And before you ask why I didn't let Mrothtar take it, I'll ask you... Would you let him take the Master Emerald if he wanted it?"  
"Mrothtar?"  
"The Master Jet is sentient. She told me his name when I asked her."  
He slowly nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, I can hear her. I can't really understand... It's in some weird language."  
"Really? I never noticed."  
"_You can only understand me because you are my Guardian. But if your friend wishes to understand me, I can touch his mind to awaken the ancient language._"  
**_"I highly suggest that you ask my Guardian to have the language awakened. He will also be enabled to hear me. The language has long since been lost from the Knuckles tribe, but the Tails tribe has kept it._**"  
"Knuckles, the Master Jet says she can awaken the language in your memory, if you want her to. The Master Emerald agrees with her."  
"Sure, if it means I can understand this."  
Both the jewels pulsed brightly and Knuckles flinched slightly.  
"_**Can you hear me now, Knuckles?**_"  
He jumped, "Yeah, I can hear you."  
"Good. It worked."  
"Hey, I've got an idea..." Tails trailed off.  
"What is it?" Knuckles and both of the jewels asked at the same time.  
"The Master Jet by herself couldn't take down the shield, but maybe, just maybe, if both of you tried at the same time..."  
"_That might work, Tails, but the sun will soon come up. We need to do this quickly, or your attempts to keep me hidden will go to waste._"  
Tails nodded quickly. "Then do it. I can't let Scourge, Fiona or Rouge find out about you, or they'd rob me blind."  
Both gems started glowing brightly, briefly blinding both of the people watching them. A moment later, the glow settled down to a consistent brightness and the shield started flickering, quicker and quicker until it finally disappeared completely. When given the OK, Tails picked up the Master Jet again and it shrunk. He placed it back in his bag and bid Knuckles a quick goodbye as he flew back up to his pillar.  
"I'm gonna try to get some sleep before the sun comes up."  
"Okay."  
***Line Break***  
Tails awoke to the insistent yelling of his name.  
"Tails, dude! The shield's gone! That creep must've found what he was looking for!" Sonic yelled.  
"Okay, okay! Stop yelling!" Tails looked around. He had almost thought the barrier going down had been a dream, but it was true. "How long have I been asleep?" He asked as he flew down.  
"Only a few hours, so the shield had to have gone down while all of us were asleep." Scourge said.  
When everyone started leaving and none of them were looking, Tails and Knuckles shared a knowing look. But, by some odd happenstance, Sonic, Scourge, and Fiona all turned around right at that moment. All of them looked to each other and raised their eyebrows.  
'Do you know what that was about?' Sonic mouthed.  
Both Fiona and Scourge shrugged and shook their heads. 'No idea.'  
They all continued to ponder the look as they walked off and Tails and Knuckles took up the rear. They almost actually got away. Almost. Mrothtar had other ideas about their little stunt with the jewels. He was not happy.

* * *

**A/N: Why won't anyone read this? *sniff* :'(**


End file.
